


The taste of freckles

by Bloodspit



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Snk jean marco, jeanmarco
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-18
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 22:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1485892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloodspit/pseuds/Bloodspit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vampire batjean AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reality

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested like a month ago on Skype but I don't remember by whom??? (Please let me know in comments if that was you!). Moving it over from a side tumblr I used before I had an ao3 account, might finish this later.

I stood alone in the theater lobby, the bustle of movie patrons rushing about failing to take notice of my plight. But that was how it was supposed to be, right? So why did it hurt so much?

My name is Jean Kirschtein, and I am vampire. No, I don’t sparkle, I don’t have super human speed or strength, and I’m not immortal. I’m just a normal guy like anyone else (who happens to suck blood and turn into a bat.) I don’t know how vampire folklore has managed to become so twisted and inaccuarate over the past decade, but I guess it’s for the best. Vampires have to maintain anonymity, or else they run the risk invoking the fatal wrath of whomever is in charge. To be honest, I have no idea who that could be. My parents are the only other vampires I’ve ever met, and they don’t tell me shit. “Don’t let anyone find out” was their only advice, other than vampire survival basics and a brief history. Their tutelage was a cold and distant one that afforded me no answers but plenty of paranoia and fear. I woke up every morning believing that it could and probably would be the last day of my life. Funny how telling yourself something every day makes it feel normal after a while. 

I don’t know how vampires came to be, and I only understand a mere fraction of what we are and of what we are capable. The act of drinking blood causes regeneration in vampires: we don’t need to do it to survive but there are plenty of incentives. Animal blood works fine, but human blood is the most effective in healing wounds and restoring cell structure. Ancient vampires used to drink so much human blood that they approached immortality, even regaining the appearance of their younger selves after having aged well beyond youth. Countless victims died at the hands of these vampires, some of whom would even bathe in the blood as well as drinking it. But this was like the fucking dark ages, man. Shit was fucked up back then, not just with vampires.

As society evolved into something more civilized, it became more and more difficult for vampires to engage in blatant blood sucking. Many were caught and killed, others maimed and imprisoned for life to stop them from hurting anyone. This meant that vampires had to be sneakier; they had to be able to move and escape quickly after striking without their identity being revealed. Again, I don’t really know the whole story, but I guess this was when they mastered the art of turning into bats? Hell if I know why they picked bats, those spooky little hairy creatures. I guess they’re kind of cute and harmless looking, and flight is a wonderful advantage to have. Since then, vampires have worked to diminish their presence in society as much as possible. Our very lives depend on blending in with normal humans. My parents are hardly the type to overshare, but that doesn’t mean that hadn’t spent countless nights of my childhood tucking me into bed with a nice horror story about what would happen to me if anyone found out.

Now that you’re caught up with all of that, I can explain to you why I was alone at the movies. I had been on my third date with this chick and I was getting antsy. I’d never been sexually intimate with anyone beyond making out and fondling each other, and I was so invested in this chick that I was already convinced I’d be getting lucky tonight. It’s hard to hold a relationship long enough for it to become sexual when you’re trying to hide who you are from everyone, and I didn’t have the confidence or the desperation to look for one-night stands. Anyway, she had whined for me to take her to see some vampire-shit movie. “You gotta be kidding me” I grumble as we get in line for tickets, obliging only because I was 19 and horny. I guess she liked the movie because afterwards her face was flushed and her eyes rimmed with tears as she turned to look at me in the emptying theater. I could practically hear the blood beneath her skin rushing to the veins at the surface of her cheeks, and she looked so appealing in that instant. I’d never drank blood before but I think I’d be ok with it if I didn’t take too much and if the other person was drunk or something so that they wouldn’t remember. I half-wondered what her blood would taste like, and as I leaned in for a kiss, she whispered breathlessly, “vampires have it so tough.” Fuuuuuck. My brain went into vampire survival training mode and with her lips almost brushing against mine, I just blurted out “vampires aren’t real, though.” Her eyes snapped open, and she just stared at me, disbelief and outrage slowly taking the place of that beautiful blush. “I know that!” she huffed and stood up out of the seat, shame and embarrassment creeping over me in the absence of our kiss.

"Mina, wait!" I called out to her as she made her way through the crowd and towards the door. "Don’t bother calling me!" she shouted over her shoulder and then she was gone. A few people stared awkwardly at me, either with pity or curiosity as to what dastardly crime I could have committed to deserve this. But they soon lost interest and I was left truly and utterly alone, like I have been my whole life. I’d like to believe that the disappointment churning in my gut was simply because of blue balls, but some part of me knew it was more than that. My loneliness transcended physical desire; there was no one in this world with whom I could be completely honest, and it fucking sucked that it would never change.


	2. Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeanbo tries to pass himself off as a normal, stressed-out college dude.

A few weeks later, I had recovered from the disaster that was my last date, and was ready to start my second semester of college. My reasons for attending were twofold, first and foremost being that it placated my parents’ expectations for me to integrate myself quietly into society and not stand out. The second reason I kept to myself; that I just wanted some semblance of normal human interaction in my life. I yearned to have more reason to talk to someone than thanking the bus driver or mumbling an apology for brushing against a stranger. I wished that I could just be normal instead of having to pretend to be normal to hide my true nature, which could reveal itself at any time. My parents had warned me that my vampiric instincts could take over in cases of extreme emotional stress, or even arousal. Great, I thought sardonically. I’ll finally get laid and end up turning into a fucking flying rat. I brought a hand up to face and rubbed it a bit with my palm, trying to scrub my misery away as I entered the classroom for my anatomy course.

I’d gotten used to ignoring the self-pitying voice at the back of my consciousness that whispered “why me?” all too often. However, that voice had gotten more insistent this past winter, practically screaming from inside my skull since I’d been unceremoniously dumped. It had gotten so loud that I almost started to wonder if other people could hear it. I was thankful for any distraction from my crumbling resolve against its cries, needing help to convince myself that what it was saying was wrong. But denial works like any other pain killer in that its effectiveness wanes the more you use it. I needed to shake myself out of this funk before I gave in and accepted that this was how the rest of my life was to be.

I shuffled over to a seat three rows back at the very end so that I wouldn’t be sandwiched between two people, keeping close contact to a minimum of participants. Once I’d gotten settled with my earbuds in, my laptop open, and my coffee cooling next to it, I let my eyes wander over the students who had began filling in the rest of the seats. I wondered which of them would choose the seat next to me, and if what they’d smell like, and how their voice would sound. My heart thudded innocently at these mundane musings, excited yet nervous due to my lack of experience. My mother had homeschooled me and my father had never let me leave our gated residence until I was 16, my only exposure to conversation being those with my parents, our servants, and the rare days when I managed to sneak onto the computer and chat online. Since then, I’d enrolled in college and had managed to get somewhat used to people talking to me. I’d even dated two girls, but neither relationships had gone well, the second of which had left me in a state of moping introversion. These last few weeks had reacquainted me with being alone and I needed to adjust to other people interacting with me.

My body buzzed with trepidation as someone sat down next to me, and I let out a shaky breath. Fuck I hope he didn’t hear that, I think self-consciously. Baby steps.

The lecture began uneventfully, and with everyone’s attention on the professor below, I felt relaxed enough to look around at the students around me. The front row students, probably the most studious bunch, were listening intently and scribbling or typing away fervently. The very middle front seat belonged to a girl with beautiful, black hair and a red scarf. Beside her, I saw a small, blonde bob-cut lean over the huge anatomy textbook, completely absorbed in whatever it said. This person nudged the dark haired young man next to them and pointed in the book, whispering something excitedly in his ear. The boy laughed silently, quickly returning his eyes to the front when the professor cleared his throat not-so-subtly. There were a few other interesting people around the classroom; in the row in front of me sat a muscular blonde man and his tall brunette companion, and next to them a petite angry-looking blonde girl sipped away at coffee unblinkingly. She turned her head then to look right at me and, flustered, I glanced down at my laptop and struggled to pretend I wasn’t looking at her. I don’t think I’ll be talking to her any time soon…

Finally, I felt comfortable enough to allow my eyes to resume their wandering. I looked over at the hands of the person next to me, not brave enough to venture a glance at his face since he was sitting so close. He had masculine, squarish fingers with neatly trimmed nails and holy shit they were covered with millions of tiny freckles. I wished he had been wearing short sleeves so I could see how the pattern of his freckles continued up his arms to join those that I now noticed at the base of his neck. His left hand wrote notes, smearing the ink just slightly as he hurried to get some bit of information down quickly, while his right hand rested loosely on the desk, acting as a paperweight. He had his face turned away from me slightly, looking towards the professor three rows down, but I could see the outline of his strong jaw as I followed the speckled trail along his body until it disappeared into his dark, closely cropped hairline. Soft bangs flopped into his eyes as he looked down at his paper then back up. He let out a puff of air to move them from his face and my heart clenched painfully in my chest. I must be really nervous around people if my heart is beating so fast just from looking around. My eyes refocused on the girl in the second row because what the fuck she was looking right at me again. My face burned hotly as I pulled my gaze away and returned them to my laptop. We’d been in class for close to 30 minutes and I just realized that the word document open on my screen was completely blank. Hoping the boy next to me hadn’t noticed, I closed the lid and picked up my coffee, cold by now, and took a huge swig to try and calm myself down.

Class was almost over, thank god, when the professor announced that he’d take roll. As he listed names off, the boy next to me closed his notebook with a sigh and turned to look right at me, opening his mouth to say something. FFFUCCKKKK WHAT DO I DO!? I screamed internally, keeping my face straight despite my inner panic. We sat there in silence for a moment just looking at each other, the smile on his face sort of falling away. “Did you hear me?” he asked somewhat worriedly. My chest felt tight.

I coughed, willing my body to react in ANY WAY POSSIBLE. “Huh? Ah- what? No.” I stammered out quickly. Great, you’re totally not acting weird at all I chastised myself. But this was why I needed practice! He turned to look at the professor and said “Here!” responding to his name having been called. Crap, I wish I had been paying attention to what it’d been.

"I asked if it would be okay to exchange phone numbers. It’s good to know a classmate in case you’re sick or something." His smile returned full force now.

"YES. Yes ok, no that’s a good idea. Right." OH my god please just kill me now. I handed him my phone so he could enter his number and he said “I’m Marco, by the way.”

"Marco" I hummed aloud gently, and then I blushed because I’d really only meant to think that and not say it. God, I suck at talking to people… I exhaled slowly as he handed my phone back to me and asked, “So what do I call you?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but the voice that said my name didn’t sound like me at all. Shit, what is wrong with me? Then I heard it again “Jean Kirschtein?” and realized it was the professor, not I, who had said it. “Oh!” I all but shouted, and the entire class turned to look at me. “Present” I said more quietly, wishing I could melt into my chair and disappear from sight. From beside me, Marco started laughing. “So your name is Jean, then?” I nodded, unable to produce words at this point, and asked me to put my number in his phone under the new contact he had made. Wow, he’d even spelt my last name right. I punched the numbers in and gave him his cell back, hoping that my hands hadn’t sweat nervously all over it. He waved to me as he left the classroom, and I waved back tiredly, catching the eye of the blonde girl one more time before grabbing my laptop and hurrying out of the classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've just finished relocating myself and my two cats from Alaska back to California, and my sister's baby shower is on Sunday! Ayyyyyy gonna be so busy for about a week. The PLUS side is I was going through some files on my boyfriend's laptop that he thought I might want, and I guess I had written this on there when I borrowed it one time a few months ago!? SOrRY!! I FORGOt about this but I'll post it now. I haven't had time to write anything lately, but I found something old lol. I'm still actively cogitating the plotlines for my other two works, Heart of Ice and The Chemistry Between Us. My life has been more tumultuous than I would prefer :S
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


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